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Milk and Its Distribution 
in Philadelphia 




ISSUED BY 

THE EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE 

OF THE 

PHILADELPHIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 



PRESENTED TO THE 
SCHOOLS OF PHILADELPHIA 

BY THE 

PHILADELPHIA MILK EXCHANGE 



>CU473887 



Educational Pamphlet No. 8, issued by the Educational Committee 
of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. 



Copyright, 1917, Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. 

OCT -tf 1917 



6* 
Milk and Its Distribution in Philadelphia 

By THOMAS B. HARBISON 



WITH the growth of the city the distribution of milk has become 
a community industry. In the early days of Philadelphia's 
life, practically every family had its own cow, so that the 
problem of securing milk was a family matter, but with the growth of 
populous communities and the abandonment of many farms, the produc- 
tion and distribution of milk came to be a matter of community interest. 

In the first place, one man owning one farm and several cows, dis- 
tributed the milk to his neighbors. Gradually the production of several 
farms was needed to meet the demand. Then instead of delivering milk 
to each household, the distributor having placed cans of milk and an 
attendant at certain street corners for an hour or two each day, dipped 
the milk into a vessel furnished by the purchaser. 

This method was succeeded by one in which the distributor, in a 
wagon, rang a bell to announce his arrival — upon which the housewife 
came to the wagon with a vessel to secure the daily needs. No attention 
was given to the time of delivery, for the householder accepted the 
needed supply at the convenience of the distributor. 

In turn this plan was succeeded by the handling of milk by the 
grocer}- store to accommodate the customers whose supply had become 
exhausted by unexpected demands on the family stock. Gradually the 
stores became more and more a means of distributing the daily supply. 
The distributor ceased the "bell ringing'' plan and instituted the method 
of calling at the door of each person considered to be a daily customer. 

The daily milk supply of Philadelphia is over five hundred thousand 
quarts. In 1916 the amount of milk received was 191,387,865 quarts. 
This was transported by the Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia & Reading, 
and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Companies; by the Adams, the 
Wells-Pargo, and the American Express Companies; by the Philadelphia 
Rapid Transit and the West Chester Trolley System ; and by auto trucks 
and wagons. The milk used in Philadelphia is produced in the States 
of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Maryland. Most 
of this supply is transported from within a hundred miles of Philadel- 
phia ; while the most distant points are near Buffalo and Rochester, 
New York. 



Milk and Its Distribution in Philadelphia 



The transportation of milk originally was for short distances. The 
rates established were inharmonious and inconsistent, and the traffic 
received little attention. No attempt was made to establish an icing 
service until 1910, when the Philadelphia Board of Health took active 
measures to insure that milk and cream should arrive at a temperature 




Fig. 1. Interior of milk car cooled by cold pure air 

not exceeding 60 degrees Fahrenheit. In the spring of 1911, the steam 
roads initiated the practice of icing milk and cream, while in 1912, icing 
became the general practice by all carriers in the transportation of milk 
from the points of production to their terminals. (See Fig. 1.) 



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Fig. 2. Penna. R. R. Co. new pattern Milk Car 



The milk and cream traffic has grown to such proportions as to 
require the establishment of special trains for its transportation. (See 
Fig. 2.) The service is arranged to gratify the needs of the business; to 



Milk and Its Distribution in Philadelphia 



furnish facilities for the reception of milk in the country at the most 
satisfactory hours of the day, and to secure its delivery in the city at the 
hours most advantageous for its subsequent distribution to the com- 
munity. In the United States there are twenty-two million dairy cows, 
producing annually milk and milk products totalling a value of one and 
a half billion dollars, which value is greater than that of the wheat crop. 




Fig. 3. Cow well cared for and contented 



The dairy cow is a machine which manufactures or converts feed 
into milk. The cow's heart pumps blood to all parts of the body, supply- 
ing large amounts to the udder, which is similar in composition to a 
large sponge and in shape to an inverted bunch of grapes. ( See Fig. 3.) 
The udder cells transform the blood into milk. By means of hand 
pressure or mechanical suction the milk is drawn from the udder to the 
milk pail. All milk when drawn from the cow is composed of fat, milk 
sugar, casein, albumen, ash and water. 

The cream being lighter is separated from the milk either by gravity 
or by centrifugal method. The old method of gravity skimming was 
not dependable or efficient. By the centrifugal method or separator, 
the bowl is run at a speed of 6,000 to 8,000 revolutions a minute, thus 
discharging the separated cream and skim milk from separate spouts. 



Milk and Its Distribution in .Philadelphia 



The butter fat content of 
the cream may be varied 
from 20 to 60 per cent, by 
the mere turning in and 
out of a regulating screw. 
Cream is used for com- 
mercial cream, ice cream 
and butter making. (See 
Fig. 4.) 

Ice cream is a food of 
high value. The combina- 
tion of sugar, butter fat 
(cream) with flavors and 
frozen, is increasing in use. 

Butter is made from 
cream. The churning of 
cream causes the butter fat 
to adhere together in little 
masses which are finally 
bulky enough to be re- 
moved from the liquid in 
which they float, In the 
process of butter-making 
the cream is allowed to 
undergo a process of ripen- 
ing to develop the desir- 
able flavor of the butter. 
Prepared culture is used as a starter for inoculating the cream to be 
ripened for churning, after the cream has been heated to about 155-160 
degrees. The cream of ten to twelve quarts of milk is required to make 
a pound of butter. 




Making cream by centrifugal method or separator 




Churn for making butter and buttermilk 



Buttermilk is the liquid re- 
maining after the butter fat has 
been separated from the cream 
by churning. (See Fig. 5.) It 
is a beverage consisting largely 
of water, sugar, casein, ash 
and lactic acid. Science has 
awarded to buttermilk a high 
place as an article of diet, be- 
cause it is a preventative of 
stomach disorders and intestinal 
troubles. 

Skim milk is of high food 
value and should be more gen- 
erally used by the consumer. 



Milk and Its Distribution in Philadelphia 



Milk is also manufactured into condensed milk, evaporated milk, 
milk powder, cheese and smear-case, all of which are sold extensively 
in our markets. 




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Fig. 6. Cooling milk from 145 degrees to 40 degrees, in less than a minute 

It is now generally accepted that it is the duty of every community 
to have its milk supply properly safeguarded. GOOD, CLEAN milk 
and cream are essential to the public health. (See Fig. 6.) Undue 
emphasis has been laid upon the inspection of equipment and methods, 
while inspection of the product has been more or less neglected. (See 
Fig. 7.) In Pennsylvania there are no laws specifying standards for 
grades under which milk and cream are sold. The sale of milk and 
cream by grades is catering to the demands of the public, but in no way 
gives the protection that could be received if standards were established 
by law or regulations made by the Board of Health. Inspection has 



Milk and Its Distribution in Philadelphia 



been carried to extremes, with little good results. The sanitary char- 
acter of milk is now determined by the bacteria count. Bacteria are 
minute organisms of vegetable origin which multiply rapidly in milk 




Fig. 7. Diagram recording time and temperature of milk 

and cream when the temperature of milk or cream is 60 degrees or 
higher. Bacteria grow more rapidly under conditions of moisture or 
heat. To test for bacteria, samples of milk and of cream are diluted 
with sterile water in the proportion of ninety-nine parts water to one 
part of milk. To this is added agar, a transparent gelatinous substance 
containing beef tea and other food to make the bacteria grow. The 
test plate is then placed in the incubator at the temperature of the 
human body. At the end of 48 hours the individual bacteria have multi- 
plied into colonies, which may be easily counted, so as to ascertain the 
number of bacteria close enough to classify the milk. 



Milk and Its Distribution in Philadelphia 




Fig. 8. Testing for butter fat 



The butter fat content of milk 
or cream is determined by a machine 
known as the Babcock Tester. A 
sample of milk or cream is mixed 
with an equal amount of sulphuric 
acid, which dissolves the casein and 
sets the butter fat free. This mix- 
ture is placed in the tester and 
whirled for five minutes. Water is 
then added and a subsequent whirl- 
ing in the tester forces the butter fat 
into the graduated neck of the testing 
bottle, where the percentage of but- 
ter fat can readily be measured. 
(See Fig. 8.) 

There are various requirements 
in the cities and States in regard to 
the legal minimum standard of but- 
ter fat for milk. It is desirable that 
each container should specify the 
butter fat of the milk or cream. 
Many producers of milk are selling 
on the butter fat basis, because of 
the great variations in the composi- 
tion of milk. The usual variation is 
from two and eight-tenths per cent, 
butter fat to five per cent. This vari- 
ation is caused by the development 
of the different breeds of cows, such 
as Ayrshires, Jerseys, Holsteins, 
Guernseys, etc. The kind or amount 
of feed may increase the amount of 
milk, but it will not materially affect 
the butter fat content, which is deter- 
mined by the breed of the cow. 

The handling of milk has become 
more sanitary with the introduction 
of machinery for clarifying, pasteur- 
izing and bottling. Clarifying means 
centrifugally cleansing milk of the 
udder waste, foreign and impure 
matter that it may contain, without 
affecting its normal constituents. (See Fig. 9.) The dairy cow herself 




Fig. 9. Clarifier cleansing milk of the udder 
waste and impure matter 



10 



Milk and Its Distribution in Philadelphia 



contributes a peculiar form of contamination. There is a constant 
shedding of waste tissue from the lining of the udder. In some form 
this udder waste is found in practically every dairy herd. Udder waste, 
pus and bacteria are removed when milk is passed through a clarifier, 
thus rendering' milk much more sanitary. 




Fiji. 10. Hot water circulates through the inside while the milk passes around the outside 
drum of the German silver pasteurizer 

Pasteurizing consists of heating milk to a certain temperature for 
such a length of time as will destroy the most bacteria ; 145 degrees F. 
for thirty minutes is recommended by the best scientific authorities as a 
guarantee that the bacteria of disease will be destroyed. (See Figs. 10 



Milk and Its Distribution in Philadelphia 


11 


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MANUFACTURED BY 
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CONSTRUCTION CO. INC. 



POSITIVE HOLDER 
WITH 
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Fig. 11. Milk at 145 degrees held at that temperature for 30 minutes, automatically timed and operated 

and 11.) The leading milk authorities now believe that even the best 
raw milk is unsafe and should be pasteurized. To show the value of 
pasteurization, experiments have been made. In New York City, 18,000 
babies were fed pasteurized milk for three years. Records show that 
these babies 
gained in 
weight, kept 
well in every 
way, while the 
death rate in 
that city, dur- 
ing this period, 
was reduced 
from 125 per 
thousand to 94 
per thousand 
births. 

Bottling is 
now done by 
machinery, a 
whole case of 
bottles being 
filled with a single operation. 




Fig. 12. Each bottle and case is washed fifteen times at thirty pounds pressure 



Capping also is done by machinery. 



12 Milk and Its Distribution in Philadelphia q 000 896 078 l" 

Powerful washing machines are used in which the milk bottles are 
washed and completely sterilized. Many of these machines consist of a 
number of large tanks with powerful steam pumps, through which the 
bottles and boxes pass in succession. Each bottle is washed five to 
fifteen times with water at thirty pounds pressure. As the inverted 
bottles and boxes pass through the machine, the water is changed in 
each tank, starting at a temperature of 90 degrees and proceeding to 
sterilization at 212 degrees. (See Fig. 12.) 

The Division of Milk Inspection of the Philadelphia Board of 
Health was first organized in 1889, and at present consists of the Chief 
Inspector and sixteen assistants. The city is divided into three farm 
districts and thirteen local districts. Under the Act of April 29, 1909, 
amended June 9, 1911, all milk dealers are licensed. The Board of 
Health may revoke any license on failure to comply with the rules and 
regulations governing the sale of milk. 

The rules and regulations prohibit the sale by the process of "dip- 
ping," except in stores approved by the Board of Health, and no milk 
shall be bottled or stored in any room used for domestic purposes, or 
in any stable. 

At the present time there are in force, 5,428 licensed milk dealers, 
distributed as follows: 311 milk dealers; 73 milk dealers driving into 
Philadelphia ; 232 producers supplying milk in Philadelphia ; 4,812 
grocery stores, hotels and restaurants. 

There are 130 pasteurizing plants, of which 112 plants daily pas- 
teurize from 750 quarts to 5,000 quarts each, while the 18 plants remain- 
ing, each pasteurize from 7,500 to 50,000 quarts daily. 



EDUCATIONAL PAMPHLETS 

ISSUED BY THE 

PHILADELPHIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 



PURPOSE — To make Philadelphia's life, industry, history, and 
government known, understood and appreciated by all its citizens. 



No. 1. Thrift— a short text-book 

No. 2. The Trust Companies of Philadelphia 

No. 3. The Rug and Carpet Industry of Philadelphia 

No. 4. The Locomotive Industry in Philadelphia 

No. 5. Truck Farming in Philadelphia County 

No. 6. Candy Making in Philadelphia 

No. 7. The Leather and Glazed Kid Industry in Philadelphia 

No. 8. Milk and Its Distribution in Philadelphia 




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